Image of the Week: Estimating Length
November 5, 2023
Estimating Length
One of our most popular Off You Go activities invites students to hunt for objects that are about 10 cm long to build an understanding of this linear measurement. These kinds of activities build deep embodied understandings of units of measure that students can then use to estimate lengths in the future. For students to really know how to use units of measure, they need a deeply held sense of each unit and how it relates to their world and, in the case of lengths like 3 inches, their bodies. When someone says, “3 inches” we want students to feel their fingers moving apart just that distance, knowing how 3 inches relates to the size of their hands, arms, and face. To develop this understanding, they need lots of opportunities to physically interact with objects and their measurements. So, share this image with students and then send them off to find object that they feel are about 6 inches long.
Some students might resist the idea that we can hold mathematical ideas in our bodies, but this is at the heart of learning and doing mathematics. From an early age, we count on fingers, we manipulate figures and puzzle pieces, we navigate three-dimensional space physically, and we embody concepts like symmetry. When looking for objects that weigh measure about 6 inches, encourage students to only start with their eyes and then quickly move to their hands to feel what that distance is like compared to their bodies.
And if you want to explore other lengths, don’t fret! We have Off You Go activities to look for objects that measure about 1 inch, 6 inches, 1 foot, 1 centimeter, and 10 centimeters.
And we invite you to follow us on Twitter! Tweet us the fascinating ideas you students have about our activities or how you’re trying these activities in your space. We can’t wait to hear from you!
To multiplicity, cheers!
Jen Munson and the multiplicity lab group